The tragic real-life story behind the Netflix series Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare.

This story contains spoilers.

In 2018, Kirat Assi’s whole world came crashing down when she learned that the man she had been dating for nearly a decade never really existed.

Kirat was the victim of an elaborate catfishing scheme that lasted eight years and involved nearly 60 false identities.

In 2021, her story became the subject of a gripping true crime podcast from Tortoise Media Sweet Bobby. Now Netflix is ​​bringing the disturbing story to screens Sweet Bobby: My catfish nightmare released on the streaming platform on Wednesday.

The True Story of Sweet Bobby

In 2009, Kirat received a friend request that changed her life forever. It was from Bobby Jandu, a handsome cardiologist who lives in New York with a handful of mutual friends.

The couple started talking and developed a close friendship that eventually led to a romantic relationship. For years, they spent their days like many long-distance couples – staying on the phone all night, texting all day, and dreaming of the day when they could one day share their lives together.

The difference was that this day would never come.

In 2009, Kirat received a friend request that would turn her life upside down.
Photo: Netflix

Every time Kirat arranged to visit, Bobby disappeared and communication became sporadic. But he always came back with a list of dramatic reasons why they couldn’t meet.

He was in witness protection and video calls were against the rules. He suffered from health problems and could be placed in an induced coma or on life support. He didn’t want her to see that he was unwell.

Kirat had become Bobby’s emotional crutch, always concerned about his well-being but never allowed to help him. She had even connected online with an entire network of his friends and family, checking in on his every life event and illness. There was never anything to be suspicious about.

Bobby always had a number of medical reasons as to why the two could never meet in person.
Photo: Netflix

As their relationship grew, Bobby’s behavior became more manipulative and controlling. He told her what to wear and how to act, and even started feeding her lies about the other relationships in her life. Although Kirat never met in person, he felt completely connected to him.

Towards the end of the 2010s, something changed in Kirat. She was now in her mid-30s and longed to build a life with Bobby. She wanted to get married and have children.

It just didn’t make sense that after eight years together, the two had never met in person.

Kirat and Bobby had planned a life together even though they had never met in person.
Photo: Netflix

The shocking discovery

In 2018, Kirat revealed the shocking truth. Bobby was a real person who lived in Brighton, England, but he was not the man Kirat had pinned her hopes and dreams on. He was a normal man with no medical ailments whose identity had been stolen by an impostor.

He had never met or spoken to Kirat in his life.

And the person behind the elaborate, decades-long catfishing scam? Kirat’s own cousin, Simran Bhogal.

Bobby is a real doctor who lives in Brighton, England – but he is not the man Kirat had a relationship with.
Photo: Netflix

Simran created a fake profile for Bobby in 2009 and a whole network of characters who could confirm his identity. For eight years she had spun a web of lies that controlled and manipulated Kirat’s entire life.

The original Sweet Bobby The podcast reveals little about the aftermath of it all – little is known about Simran’s identity or motivations, and while Kirat took legal action, this proved difficult as catfishing and emotional manipulation did not fall under clear legal categories.

The Sweet Bobby The story remains one of the longest-running and most complex cases of catfish fishing to date.

The six-part documentary from Netflix Sweet Bobby: My catfish nightmare is available to stream now.

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